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Our latest interrogation focuses on the Neo-Classical Power Metal outfit from Finland, Amberian Dawn. Having released their latest music video 'Fame & Gloria' (featured above), it was about time we caught up with the quintet as they celebrate their tenth anniversary this year (happy birthday guys!) We talk about Eurovision and their thoughts about it, insinuating a possible future participation - if they could win it for Finland like Lordi did, then lightning would have struck twice. Their latest album "Innuendo" also receives a cooking as we find out what simmers underneath the latest effort, we ask how the change of vocal duties have affected the band as a whole and how they cope with the stress of touring. Tuomas Seppälä (below second from right) gave us the lowdown.  Amberian Dawn formed way back in 2006 and since then the band has gone from strength to strength, with very few low points to reflect upon Tuomas shed light on what the positives have been: "One of the biggest one was our first European tour in 2008. It was really awesome to get a chance to tour with Epica just after releasing our debut album. As a young band we were just learning how to do it all. We learned a lot during this tour from Epica." Taking notes from such a well and truly respected metal band such as Epica has helped Amberian Dawn clamber up the ladder to reach heights they might well not have imagined back in their early years. Their latest chapter in the band's career came in form of their latest album "Innuendo", in fact at the back end of 2015 they toured in support of said album along with Delain and The Gentle Storm. However they don't plan to stop there not by a long shot, with Tuomas admitting that they're "planning to tour again this year, (so) let's see when it's going to happen. It takes some time to organize a tour". Time does appear to fly by and as 2015 came to a close and 2016 came into our lives, this inevitably started a new chapter for Amberian Dawn, a period of down time and time spent away from band activities except for some Summer festival appearances of which Amberian Dawn will need to rest and recharge themselves for. For Tuomas taking a break from the band means he is able to enjoy doing "sports of all kinds. In the summer I like to jog. In the winter I like to do indoor cycling for example", it is always important for musicians to take a break once in a while and spend time with their loved ones or indeed on their own life and maintain their well-being. Tuomas admits that most of the time touring has it's best and worst parts, right at the top of the best parts is performing and that "If we wouldn't enjoy it so much, we wouldn't do it all", yet hovering in the background of every good moment is elements of bad moments waiting to strike, "of course there have also been some bad moments on tours and usually those are somehow related to technical matters". With all the concerns and worries, bouts of excitement and happiness, time does have a knock on effect on all musicians, sometimes taking things slow can be for the best. On the continuing theme of time, 2012 became a turning point for Amberian Dawn and in specific their departing vocalist Heidi Parviainen who was soon to be replaced by incumbent vocalist Päivi "Capri" Virkkunen. Naturally with the change in vocal duties there was a subtle reason behind this, Tuomas explains the decision behind this change: "Capri has a totally different approach to singing than Heidi does. Capri is able to do both rock vocals and operatic vocals. At the moment I prefer her rock vocals and it gives me new possibilities with the songwriting process. Heidi's departure from Amberian Dawn was as amicable as is humanly possible. Heidi and I decided in early 2012 that we're going to part ways after recording ”Circus Black” and after all the promotional work relating to the album release is done... we also decided to do our final show together with Heidi despite the fact we had already found a new singer. I think it was a good call for everybody that we finished our co-operation with Heidi at a such a good festival. Now our lyrics are written by Capri. Writing of the lyrics has always been a job for the vocalist in AD" Songwriting is never an easy process, especially when you're stuck on what ideas you wish to circumvent around the song as a whole, yet there are times where a song can be as bonkers as the performers and yet still score a reputation no matter the genre. So when asked about whether Amberian Dawn could and would write a song to enter the Finnish national selection for Eurovision with, Tuomas admits that he "would see that as a possibility. Maybe even next year ;) I don't see what harm it would do to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.", well Lordi won it for Finland and even then Teräsbetoni represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest the following year. Tuomas hopes to see all Amberian Dawn fans on future tours as they have tour plans in the future, so watch this band with interest, once again it's all a matter of time. "Innuendo" is out now via Napalm Records http://amberiandawn.com/ https://www.facebook.com/amberiandawn/
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BAND: AMORAL MUSICIAN: BEN VARON (Guitars) COUNTRY: FINLAND GENRE: POWER METAL Last October I caught up with Ben Varon, guitarist of Amoral as they were in the USA promoting their latest album 'Beneath'. The band originally started off as a Technical Death Metal band but shifted to Power Metal thus along with the changing of bandmembers and the acquisition of Ari Koivunen of whom was the winner of 'Idols 2007'; the Finnish version of the UK's song contest 'Pop Idol'. 'Beneath' became the band's fifth album overall and their tenth release since their birth in 1997. Check out the interview and support the band :) https://www.facebook.com/amoralweb RHYS STEVENSON
 BAND: SONATA ARCTICA
MUSICIAN: HENRIK KLINGENBERG COUNTRY: FINLAND GENRE: POWER / PROG METAL SONATA ARCTICA INTERVIEW WITH HENRIK KLINGENBERG (Vocals / Keyboard) I spoke to Henrik Klingenberg of Finnish Power / Prog Metallers Sonata Arctica, to catch up on goings on and some past topics, read and enjoy: 1. How did you guys form and could you explain how the band name cameabout? Well, I wasn't there but I guess it's pretty much the same with every band, you want to play, find some guys and start hammering it out. No idea about the original name either, sorry. I think the story can be found in our bio on our homepage or something... 2. In Finland is there any encouragement for people to learn an instrument whatever the instrument is? No I wouldn't say there's any special enouragement to get into music or sports or anything else for that matter. Of course if you want to do something in particular there is usually some help available. 3. Would you consider your music to be part of the genre 'Winter Metal' along with Wintersun? Hmm, that's a bit confusing, no I don't consider us Winter Metal, I didn't even know there was a genre called that. 4. Your currently working on your seventh album, what details can you give? I.e. album title, release date? The name is still a secret but the album will be released in April-May 2012. I don't want to try to describe the music too much but it's once again something new for us as a band. 5. Out of all the cover songs you have done, which is your most and least favourite, why is this? We did a cover of Roy Orbison, you got it with one of my other bands, Silent Voices, like 10years ago and that was pretty horrible. The best cover would probably be the Gary Moore one we did with SA, called 'Out In The Fields'....that song is so good, even we couldn't mess it up and I got to learn Gary Moores guitar solo note for note which was fun. 6. Sonata Artica is now 15 years old, quite an achievement isn't it? What is your highlights (both best and worst) of the band's existence? Probably the worst time was during the recording of Unia when all these issues with Jani started to unfold, it was a very disturbing time in the history of the band. Whenever we're on tour or recording , those are the highlights for me. There's so much other things we have to do, like business stuff etc. so when we finally get to actually focus on the music, that's the best part and the only reason to keep on doing this. 7. Tony Kakko, what is the best advice can you give to those wishing to sing in the Power Metal style of vocals? Sorry, can't help you there....actually to be able to sing well, one really important thing is to take good care of your body because that's your instrument, meaning, no smoking (unless you're David Coverdale or Lemmy) and take it easy with the booze. Any sport will also help. 8. Tommy, Elias, Marko, Henrik, what advice can you give to musicians wishing to improve their skills on bass, guitar, keyboard / keytar and drums? There's a lot of stuff online to help you out with your playing skill no matter what your instrument is, however nothing can beat a good teacher, so find someone who plays the way you want to play and ask them to teach you....and of course practise your ass off.....and while doing this remember that it's supposed to be fun, if it's not fun when you're starting out, I'll tell you, it won't be fun later on either. 9. Out of all of the releases, which is your favourite and why and what song of all time in Sonata Arctica is your favourite? This changes every day and it's impossible to answer while we're working on a new album because of course that's your favourite (if it isn't then maybe we should rewrite some stuff, right?)...of the previous ones I really like Reckoning Night since it was my first album with the band and the recording experience was really interesting. 'Don't Say A Word' is probably our best song, somehow we found a balance with that one. 10. Have you ever considered recording a cover for a Christmas song? Personally speaking no, I don't know if Tony ever thought about it....but I hope we don't do that, rather write our own christmas song. 11. Do you plan to tour the UK sometime in 2012, if not what festivals are you looking to play at in Europe? We'll be touring all over Europe in the fall so I'm sure we'll hit UK at some point if not already during the festival season. I have no idea about the festivals yet, I think a couple of ones are online now on our site but apart from that I have no clue. 12. As Metal is very popular in Finland, would you consider it a major export, before and after Lordi's famous Eurovision win? Metal is probably the most exported music style from Finland but there's no way to compete when compared to other branches of exports (outside of the music industry).... I don't think the Eurovision thing had too much to do with this, after all metal people don't need to watch that kind of TV crap to find out about new music. I guess Lordi got new fans but for other bands it didn't make make that much of an impact, and why should it? 13. Over the 15 years, how has the band's sound changed and what differences can you notably hear? We've become more progressive to some extent and more mature I guess, I think the sound has changed on every album, sometimes more and sometimes less. What the changes are, is something everyone has to figure out themselves, if I tell you how my keyboard sounds changed from album to album that's not gonna be really helpful now is it? We will continue to change and explore new things with every album, I think that's the only way to do it for us, and I'm sure you all will hear the difference when the new album comes out; or not, who knows? 14. What can we expect from Sonata Arctica in 2012 and in the future? We just released our 2nd DVD 'Live in Finland' which basically tells the story of the 'Days of Grays world tour', and right now we're in the studio recording our next album. It will be out in spring and then it's time to tour for 1 and a half to 2 years again. Right now that's all we have planned...so if we make it alive through this cycle we'll be back in the studio after that making more music, let's cross our fingers :) Cheers, beers & thanks, Henrik/Sonata Arctica RHYS STEVENSON |
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